Our Favorite U.S. History Books

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I'd like a reading list that celebrates America. Which new books about U.S. history can you recommend?

Ellen responds:
Open the floodgates! The past few years have seen some beauties, including David McCullough's best-selling biography of John Adams — aptly entitled John Adams — and there's no sign that the trend is abating.

Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War, is the latest nonfiction standout. Philbrick charts the course of the Pilgrims and how their ability to live side by side with Indian tribes was critical to their survival. When cooperation broke down, both sides paid a steep price. (I think there's a moral here.)

My second pick from this year's nonfiction crop is Jon Meacham's American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. This is no screed, but a measured attempt to look at the early views on religion among our country's leaders. Meacham, whose day job is managing editor of Newsweek, leads readers to the conclusion that religious beliefs should determine public policy indirectly, through our values, and not through the ballot box.

If you love reading about American history, as I do, why limit yourself to nonfiction? I just finished Thirteen Moons, Charles Frazier's latest novel (his first was the blockbuster Civil War epic Cold Mountain). This warmhearted story paints a sepia-toned picture of 19th-century frontier life in Georgia and parts west. Told from the perspective of an aging frontiersman, it evokes Lincoln's humble beginnings and how the early collaboration between settlers and Indians dissolved in the face of greed and manifest destiny.

Another great fiction pick for the Americana buff — and a gift-giving suggestion as well — is The Annotated Uncle Tom's Cabin, which came out this fall with an introduction and notes by the scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. Okay, so it's not technically new. The book was first published in 1852, but was shelved during the civil rights movement because of the racism it reflected. Gates, however, takes the long view, pointing out how Harriet Beecher Stowe's widely read novel offered insights into the real lives of slaves and the attitudes of white Americans.

And a sleeper choice for anyone who thinks a picture is worth a thousand words: Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom, by Stephen Wilkes, with an introduction by former U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. Wilkes's spare photos of the hospital complex at immigration landmark Ellis Island combine art and history in one package.